Generally, a diesel powered internal combustion engine employs a number of fluid filters, such as a fuel water separator. The fuel water separator may include two enclosures, viz., a bowl for receiving drained water and a housing for enclosing a filter element of the fuel water separator. The bowl and the housing may be coupled to one another by any mechanical coupling method, such as bonding, welding, and so on.
For a reusable type of the fuel water separator, the fuel water separator may have to be serviced at regular intervals. During servicing, the housing and/or the bowl may have to be disassembled from the engine in order to access the filter element therein. In such a situation, a gripping tool, such as a strap wrench, may be used to grip the housing and/or the bowl in order to securely hold the fuel water separator.
Often times, a clamping force exerted by the gripping tool may result in flexing of the housing and/or the bowl in turn leading to structural damage thereof. As a result, the housing and/or the bowl may have to be replaced leading to increased service and operating costs. Hence, there is a need for an improved filter housing for such a fluid filter.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,057,669 describes a fluid filtering apparatus and method having keyed components to ensure that a correct filter element is being installed into a filter base. Keyed arrangements may occur between the filter element and a filter housing, the filter element and the filter base, and the filter base and the filter housing. A locking arrangement may be provided to prevent undesired loosening of the filter element relative to the filter base. The filter base may include a torsion lock insert that engages lock detents of the filter element to prevent the undesired loosening. An adaptor may be provided to provide the lock detents that interact with the torsion lock insert.